Linfox rises to the challenge of North QLD floods

In order to combat the dire conditions in north Queensland, Linfox has announced it is harnessing road, rail and sea transport to bypass areas affected by heavy rains during an eventful first week of its intermodal operations.

The logistics company has established a control room at its Acacia Ridge rail terminal as it sets out to replenish supermarkets and convenience stores cut-off by floods with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting more rain was on the way.

“When weather events like these occur, you need to have multiple modes of transport seamlessly working together to ensure free flowing movement of goods”, said Glenn Ashton, Linfox Intermodal General Manager.

Linfox completed its acquisition of Aurizon’s Queensland Intermodal Business on Friday 1 February.

Referred to as a ‘hook and pull’ agreement, the arrangement between the two companies will see Aurizon provide locomotive and rail corridor access to Linfox as it continues to manage freight movements for its customers.

With the train line being cut north of Mackay, Linfox has confirmed that it has mobilised all available transport assets to ensure essential goods continue north via road and sea to the worst affected areas.

“We have more than 100 trucks working in the flood zone to deliver goods to stores,” said Ashton.

“We’re using inland routes to access far north Queensland, but it’s slow going due to the conditions on the roads,” he said.

Linfox was also utilising a barge, according to Ashton, to haul customer freight from Mackay to flood affected communities.

Mt Isa is one of the towns hit hardest by the extreme conditions with all major roads to the east closed due to flooding.

In response, Linfox assigned a triple road train to deliver groceries from Adelaide to access Mt Isa from the west, which arrived yesterday.

“It’s important to get essential goods through, but safety is always top of mind, especially when operating in adverse conditions”, said Ashton.

“The new Linfox/Aurizon partnership has demonstrated the strength of having multiple modes of transport at our disposal. We knew that this partnership would help Queenslanders, but we didn’t know it would only take a few days to show its worth”, he said.

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